Cigar Box Nation TV (6/21/16) - How to use Capacitors with Piezos in Cigar Box Guitars

[@ADEker]

Way to Go ! Ben thanks for the Demo ! Much appriciated no polaraty was a good one!

Thos video came in good time. Thank you guys!

[@fangerpicker]

First time I've watched any of your videos, though I've frequented your web site often. This video really made the light bulb go on for me regarding specific capacitors and tone -- so simple and kinda clumsy (like most of my shop work ;-) but the immediate, clear results of the changes you were making to the circuit was awesome. Thanks for these! I'll be browsing your video collection for more gems.

[@charlesjames888]

I've gone totally deaf but still watch with cc- my cbg days are over but I wish Gitty and everyone connected a bright and productive future.

[@Cigarboxnation]

Thank you Charles, we appreciate your well wishes.

[@peterallan5367]

CHARLES JAMES [

[@tommb]

The guy in the green shirt is your is the duty nodder?

[@thurgogopro5338]

Did anybody else blow on the screen to cool the solder joint

[@spud4242]

Actually the 103 should be read as 10,000 pF or .01 uF the 3 is 1000 and based on picofarads. the third number is basically how many zeros. so a 104 capacitor would be 100,000 pF or 0.1 uF. with you system of moving the decimal point the number of spaces of the third digit you would get the incorrect value of .001uF for a 104 capacitor. and yes there can be polarity in capacitors. electrolytics,tantalum etc DO have polarity.

[@bartblankenship1314]

I love you guys and gals! But.... and it's a big but. I've been super disappointed every time I've used a piezo. I've tried the capacitors, and still considering all the time spent in a build, a magnetic pickup takes it! No quackiness. A piezo costs about $2 or even less. And a single coil or humbucker $10 more. Yes, you have to carve into the box and reinforce the neck, but you get great sound. I am about ready to fly out just to see what I'm missing with all the builders using piezos.

[@Cigarboxnation]

Thank you for your kindness and support, Bart. Yes, there are challenges to using disk piezos but they also have their applications in which they are extremely effective. And for electrifying our instruments, we're all very lucky to have the numerous options available to us, whether they be contact pickups like disk piezos, or mag pups. While not a disk piezo, you may find this article on using rod piezos (the kind used in electric/acoustic 6-string guitars) helpful for a future build www.cbgitty.com/news/the-best-acoustic-tone-piezo-rod-pickup-preamp-in-a-neckthrough-cigar-box-guitar/

[@ronhmason]

Love the video but have a question...if you use an equalizer would you still need a capacitor or do they both do the same thing? Thanks for all your support.

[@Cigarboxnation]

Hello, Ron, and thank you for the question. The capacitor, as it's used here, is a simple and inexpensive way to tame a piezo. An EQ/preamp will do that and more by allowing you to better sculpt the sound of your piezo-electrified CBG. There's a little more work involved with using an EQ/preamp but the results have much greater potential.

[@brohamlincoln214]

12:35 I thought the whiteboard was much larger and standing further behind the workbench before you started writing on it. Like the reverse version of the large phone gag from Top Secret.

[@skylark4901]

Ahhh..... Top Secret, very funny

[@crackerjack3359]

Simpler I think, and not much more expensive, is to replace the piezzo with a magnetic pick up

[@raccoon6072]

unless you use nylon strings, they do not interact with coils.

[@crackerjack3359]

@@raccoon6072 Good point

[@zipzip8239]

what about if i have a piezo and a humbucker? where would i solder the capacitor if i dont want it messing with the sound of the humbucker?

[@Cigarboxnation]

Ideally you would have a switch with separate tone pots. Magnetic and piezo pickups generally don't play well together without some serious modification.

[@zipzip8239]

i have a 3 way selector with 1 tone and 1 volume, so i should get a 2nd tone pot (could i use a volume instead)? where would i put the capacitor?

[@Cigarboxnation]

@@zipzip8239 You could use a volume. However I think a Tone control would be more effective for a piezo, if you are only going with one. The tone pot will help remove some of the Treble/higher pitched frequencies, rather than reducing the overall signal strength. One leg of the capacitor would be soldered to the back of the pot and the other I usually solder onto the lug all the way to the right (when looking at the bottom of the pot, with the lugs facing toward you.

[@zipzip8239]

@@Cigarboxnation thanks for the help

[@kewlbns69]

glen found a razor? :o

[@jamesmortier4624]

If you clean and thermally shock your soldering iron you will have a better chance of soldering correctly. You should not be on any connection that long when soldering. Also, using dead solder on your connections leads to low reliability of your connection. i almost guarantee that connection will fail in time with the vibration from the instrument.

[@fangerpicker]

Hi James -- "thermally shock" meaning using a damp cloth or sponge to cool it as you clean it off? I've heard conflicting opinions on this... Opponents say it creates pits in the iron's tip and shortens its life. Do you prefer this over using the steel-wool-in-a-cup cleaners?

[@bradmcclure4945]

now hook up two piezo with a switch with a cap on one piezo and no cap on the second piezo so we can hear the difference

[@ronmiller7916]

Mudify!!!

[@rickbogan4631]

Pretty bad video even for 7 years ago. Rambles and rambles.